What If 2013

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The movie is saturated with cute, teeming with cute, rancid with cute. I'd endured all a man could fairly be expected to take when I glanced at my watch and realized there were still 95 minutes to go. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: A romantic comedy that's sporadically fixated by the subject of feces and cursed by ceaseless verbiage. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's essentially a contemporary "When Harry Met Sally" played out with 20-somethings, and there's nothing terribly wrong with that. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Roughly three parts charming to one part cloying, "The F Word" attempts and largely succeeds at pulling off a smart, self-aware riff on romantic-comedy conventions while maintaining a core of earnest feeling. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: What If is proof that, with a likable cast and a good grasp of tone, it's possible to make a decent romantic comedy out of the genre's most played-out cliches. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: Radcliffe is delightful, showcasing a sly, winning comedic style. Kazan's charms are a bit more twee (her character is also more undefined), but the warmth and energy between the two is undeniable. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Spall is likable, Kazan is adorable, Driver is amusing enough as the blowhard best friend, and Radcliffe as Wallace is . . . a passive-aggressive lump. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Nerd wish-fulfillment of the first order, this Canadian rom-com places an artificial barrier between its cute-as-a-button leads and asks us to stick around for an hour and a half until it's artificially removed. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Why did the film's charms elude me? I felt arm-twisted by "What If," for all its tossed-off verbiage and wisecracking. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: This is standard rom-com terrain, and, as directed by Michael Dowse and written by Elan Mastai, it doesn't fly high. At times it's rather sweet, though, and Radcliffe and Kazan have a nice nerds-in-clover rapport. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: In the absence of novelty, execution becomes vital, and What If hits its marks with wit, consistency and even a bit of visual inventiveness. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "What If" flies by on the instant and lasting chemistry between leads Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan. Read more

Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly: An unctuous rom-com that runs its characters through every plastic cliche of a pre-Oscar McConaughey vehicle, ultimately causing us to root against the vacuous couple and their predetermined happy ending. Read more

David Ehrlich, Film.com: Elevated from an above-average romantic comedy to a movie worthy of being embraced by a generation of twenty somethings because it refuses to let its characters off the hook. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Well-scripted rom-com is a strong post-Potter step for Daniel Radcliffe. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: Once you get past the film's been-there theme - Can a straight man and a woman just be friends? - it's essentially, "Check, please." Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: It has the same kind of young smart set speak that you hear all the time in Lena Dunham's Girls. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Director Michael Dowse ("Take Me Home Tonight") can't quite decide on a tone -- sly, whimsical or wacky? -- but the problem is the material. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Even if the movie feels headed in a predictable direction, it's fun to follow it, and even if the characters sound a little interchangeable, it's still amusing to hear them speak. Read more

Ian Buckwalter, NPR: The film manages a neat trick of sticking close to formula while still being unexpectedly fresh. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Dowse blankets his love story with heavy layers of cutesy quirkiness, but there's no denying its conventional and derivative soul. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: A balloon of cuteness that makes you yearn for a pin, "What If" is Saturday night comfort food for those who need to believe that even the most curdled among us can find a mate. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: A film that is like one extended, excruciating anticlimax. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: It's Radcliffe and Kazan, clinking their takeout coffees (well, there's no clink in cardboard, is there?) and radiating soulful desire and distress, that make What If more than just an iffy affair. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It feels familiar and the appeal of the leads can't fully compensate for unremarkable dialogue and the obligatory (but nevertheless irritating) "romantic complications" subplot. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: What If doesn't break new ground. But it has charm to spare, and Radcliffe and Kazan are irresistible. No ifs about it. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: There's nothing unfamiliar or unconventional about the thoroughly charming indie rom-com "What If" - but that is precisely this movie's secret. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Radcliffe, who has been flirting with adulthood in his recent screen outings, arrives as a wry, unconventionally handsome leading man. And Kazan is radiant. Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: In many ways, What If takes us down a road that When Harry Met Sally first traveled a quarter-century ago. Yet I didn't really mind revisiting the old friend vs. lover discussion, especially one with a contemporary slant and solid dialogue. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Long before the script permits the characters to acknowledge the obvious, you lose patience: Jump into the deep end of the bed already. It would be more fun and friendly to all concerned, especially the audience. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The dialogue is believable and funny, even if strays a little too often into the grotesque eating and toilet habits of the late Elvis Presley. Read more

James Rocchi, TheWrap: What if smart, talented people re-invigorated the rom-com with sass, sex, and sarcasm while still keeping the romance and raw emotion? With What if, that hypothetical question has a very real - and very good - answer. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: For a kid who grew up in public and is worth an estimated 60 million, Daniel Radcliffe does a convincing job of playing a normal guy. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: What if is less conventional and more winning than most films in this category. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: While What If does have its blemishes -- there are times when it's just too cute for its own good -- it's so enjoyable from moment to moment that it's easy to forgive. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: I'll admit it: I fell hard for What If, even as I realized that in an alternate universe I may have wanted to punch all of these characters out. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: If you can suspend your incredulity for a moment, "What If" has its bright moments. And that's thanks in large part to its leads, who manage to do what Radcliffe has always done well: conjure up a little magic. Read more